© Getty Images2024 Chinese Grand Prix - Friday ReportRain Hinders The Bulls In Sprint Qualifying.
MaxVerstappenandSergioPérezhadtobattleheavyraininathrilling,heart-in-the-mouthSQ3tosecureP4andP6intomorrow’s19-lapsprintraceafterdominatingtheopeningtwosessionsofthesprintqualifyingsession.
Max
Checo
Earlier, in the only practice session of the weekend, the Bulls finished P3 and P4 with Max just edging out his teammate.
Both Bulls started in the medium tyre, which for the Chinese Grand Prix is the C3, right in the middle of Pirelli’s range. Max and Checo put in three flying laps each with Max setting a 1:38.498 putting him P1 at that point. Checo’s 1:38.566 put him in P2.
The drivers then put in some high-fuel, race simulation laps on the same medium tyres before switching to the sticky soft tyre for some final qualifying runs. Both cut seconds off their times. Max’s best time on the soft tyre was 1:36.660 and Checo just 0.030s behind his teammate. Lance Stroll topped the practice session with a 1:36.302, and below him was Oscar Piastri in P2. Max finished the session P3, just 0.358s behind the Aston Martin driver and Checo 0.388s placing him in fourth.
S1
In the first sprint qualifying session of the season the Bulls took their time leaving the garages as they had 12 minutes to play with. Regulations state that for SQ1 the teams must use a medium tyre, so we strapped on the yellow tyres and eventually hit the track with the session three minutes old to avoid the traffic.
Max completed his flying lap first and finished with a time of 1:36.456, placing him provisionally in P1. When Checo broke the timing beam with his time of 1:36.110 putting him on the top spot and pushing Max into P2. This looked like the session would finish that way, but a late lunge from Lando Norris split the Bulls. SQ1 finished with Checo on top, Norris 0.274s behind, and Max’s time saw him finish P3, just 0.346s off his teammate.
Eliminated at the end of SQ was the Williams’ of Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon, the Alpines’ of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda.
S2
Teams were predicting rain to hit the track during the 10 minutes of SQ2, but all the teams decided to send their drivers out on slicks – which were required to be medium compound again.
While there was a huge queue as all drivers were keen to get out on track, both drivers held tight in their garages and waited for the pitlane to clear. The Bulls only completed one push lap each. Max crossed the finish line with a time of 1:35.606, placing him in P1, Checo’s time of 1:35.781, put him in P3 with Charles Leclerc splitting them.
As the time ticked down, those looking to improve their time with a second push lap ran out of luck as the rain started to fall. George Russell suffered most and found himself eliminated at the end of the session. Joining him was Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo and the Hass’ duo of Niko Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
S3
Along with the weather, the attitude changed in the garage and for SQ3 the Bulls were keen to get out on track as soon as possible. All ten remaining drivers went out on track with intermediate tyres and carnage ensued. Max, Checo and plenty of the other drivers slid off the track as they searched for grip.
Checo put in two solid push laps, his fastest being 2:00.375, which placed him in P1 at that point in the session.
Max struggled with grip and broke the track limits on his opening push lap. Undeterred, he was pushing again when he went off track at the final turn and had another time deleted. With only a few minutes remaining the World Champion still hadn’t set a lap time. His final chance to set a qualifying time saw him post a 2:00.28, provisionally placing him in P2 and on the front row for tomorrow’s sprint.
As other drivers got to grips with the wet surface the times started to drop. Lewis Hamilton thought he had claimed pole position with a 1:59.201, but Norris’ time of 1:57.940 – which was originally deleted – was reinstated placing him on top for tomorrow’s sprint. Hamilton had to settle for P2, with Fernando Alonso in P3, Max completed the second row in fourth. Carlos Sainz was in fifth, with Checo behind him in P6. Charles Leclerc will start in seventh, Oscar Piastri in P8, Valtteri Bottas in P9 and local hero Guanyu Zhou rounds out the top 10.
| Rank | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | | 1 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:36.302 | - |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:36.629 | +0.327 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:36.660 | +0.358 |
| 4 | | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:36.690 | +0.388 |
| 5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:37.101 | +0.799 |
| 6 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:37.118 | +0.816 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:37.213 | +0.911 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:37.229 | +0.927 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Visa Cash App RB | 1:37.238 | +0.936 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 1:37.530 | +1.228 |
